advertisement


Exposure

Howdy

Howdy

pfm Member
My attempt to start a comprehensive thread about Exposure amps. I have nothing to contribute here, but I know many fishes are very knowledgeable on the subject.
So, what's the packing order of old Exposure amps, both integrated and separates. What's their value, years introduced, and how do they stack against each other and their Naim counterparts, approximately? Are they in need of a service by now, do they have any quirks - like input selectors that are probably on their way out and are hard to replace (source replacements...).
 
This was the lineup back around 1999 when John Farlowe was involved with the company.

2ckrhkx.png
 
I have a 21 preamp and a 4 dual mono/unregulated and I'm very, very satisfied with it.
Bought the 4 $600.00 CDN, got it serviced for $500.00 CDN and well worth the investment from my point of view.
I bought the 21 from a member of this forum and won’t tell what price I paid (I'm a bit shy) but roughly half of the actual selling price.
Very similar to my Naim 42.5/Hicap/160 BD but a tad more accurate tone and more natural.
In fact, I love the sound of both Naim and Exposure the same and for both brands, I prefer the vintage units to the newest ones.
I wanted a remote control for the pre therefore the 21 was the best option for me.
Can’t recommend enough to jump on a Farlowe era unit if you find one, they sound lovely and are built to last.
They will all need service, even my 21 that is from the 90’s had the reservoir capacitors dead a few months after I bought it. They are easy to service though.
 
Well made and sounds better than Naim and Quad (both of which are equally well made... or were until recently in Quads case.... China, ahem...). Of larger UK amp brands, ultimately beaten on sound quality by the likes of EAR, Musical Fidelity and Sugden Masterclass (and I guess as a pfm large amp brand by Avondale Qudos and NCC300).

I did a lot of work for my late pal Tim in Leeds in the late 90's/early noughties and spent many an enjoyable evening with a IV Dual Regulated (recapped and further tweaked by yours truly with extra regulators for the front end etc) driving Spendor SP1's, phono stage and line stage were custom built Arkless Electronics units and front end was Roksan Xerxes, RB300 and Ortofon Rohmann cart. A huge white Marantz very expensive CD player was the digital source. Sounded great! Plenty of power, grip and authority from the Exposure power amp and it never sounded "wrong" or "offensive". Ultimately lacked the last N'th degree of transparency, detail and soundstaging but undeniably "musical" and fun.

IIV and IIIV good VFM partnering of trad Exposure.
 
Arkless Electronics said:
Of larger UK amp brands, ultimately beaten on sound quality by the likes of EAR, Musical Fidelity and Sugden Masterclass (and I guess as a pfm large amp brand by Avondale Qudos and NCC300).
Click to expand...
I had an EAR 912 preamp and 890 power amp for a while and prefer the Exposure 5010 pre and monos I have now, as well as the 21/16 Monos I owned a while back. I'm surprised you mention Musical Fidelity - they produce so many models, some sound okay, some less so, but plenty of duds produced by MF over the years, not to mention unrpedictable reliability. Exposure have always had a simple line up, always been reliable, and all sounded great.
 
I’ve tried a early VII Dual preamp with 2 VI power supplies, the Expander unit for the early Dual VII which only had two line level inputs and a phono input, IV & VIII power amplifiers, the original CD player (which was great) along with a 2010 CDP & DAC & Tuner, 2010s2 DAC and 3010s2 CDP, a pair of Regulated XVIII super mono’s and a XVII Preamp and a XV integrated. Not a dud amongst any of them tbh and I even used the Exposure Expander unit as a passive preamp with a Quad 909 to good effect for a while.
Definitely one of the more consistent brands over the years ime and I’m sure I’ll revisit them again.
 
Another big thumbs up for Exposure.
Owned quite a few bits and retailed them too, all Farlowe era stuff.
The only duffer, IMHO, was the standard XV, a backwards step from the X for musical enjoyment.
The other one with a question mark over it was the XIV, a strange beast that offered more than the other pre's but also hinted at greater things though didn't quite deliver. I never upgraded to one as a result.

Virtually no experience of Brady Exposure though.
 
What I like about exposure is they pretty much just stick to amps and don’t branch into turntables, speakers, cartridges etc and they don’t churn out hundreds of different models. Think with the likes of Rega, Linn etc they kind of lose they’re signature when there’s so many different products.
 
RossB said:
I'm surprised you mention Musical Fidelity - they produce so many models, some sound okay, some less so, but plenty of duds produced by MF over the years, not to mention unrpedictable reliability. Exposure have always had a simple line up, always been reliable, and all sounded great.
Click to expand...

The sound of a Musical Fidelity amplifier self destructing is the sweetest noise it will ever make.
 
Musical Fidelity. Nowhere near as many mentions in forums. Got to say the M5 and 6 si's appeal more aesthetically than Exposures.
 
RossB said:
I had an EAR 912 preamp and 890 power amp for a while and prefer the Exposure 5010 pre and monos I have now, as well as the 21/16 Monos I owned a while back. I'm surprised you mention Musical Fidelity - they produce so many models, some sound okay, some less so, but plenty of duds produced by MF over the years, not to mention unrpedictable reliability. Exposure have always had a simple line up, always been reliable, and all sounded great.
Click to expand...
Hey Ross curious to know how the 5010 combo compares to the 21/16 monos
 
You must log in or register to reply here.


advertisement


Back
Top